Before Stephon Marbury set the Garden ablaze with a ferocious individual performance yesterday during a Martin Luther King Day matinee, Isiah Thomas was asked if the Knicks possessed the horses to complement their All-Star point guard.

“Not really,” the team president responded. “I don’t think you ever really get the Secretariats to go with him.”

And that’s the point. With a 28-point, 14-assist display that won’t soon be forgotten, Marbury accelerated like Big Red down the stretch of a 90-79 victory over the Raptors.

Following a four-point first half, Marbury took over in the final two quarters, helping the Knicks (19-24) tie a season-high with their fourth straight victory and move percentage points ahead of the Sixers for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. He nearly single-handedly wore down the Raptors.

“[Marbury] was great,” teammate Penny Hardaway said. “Normally he’s dishing it out to the other guys, but he took over the game when we needed him to. And he finished the [Raptors] off for us.”

With Keith Van Horn (four points) and Allan Houston (17 points) entrenched in subpar games, Marbury dished, drove and drilled jumpers. He crossed over and he elevated to what seemed halfway to the ceiling, taking his team with him.

It was his best all-around game as a Knick, he said, for one reason alone.

“Because we won,” said Marbury, who kept Lenny Wilkens undefeated at 3-0 as Knick coach.

“Individually, I can play like that on this team… because you have guys that know how to play,” Marbury added. “You have guys who understand the game. You have guys who know how to make shots. For myself, it’s like, ‘Pick your poison.’ “

With 47 seconds remaining, Marbury exhorted the 19,308 at the Garden to stand up and give the Knicks a game-ending ovation.

In the waning seconds, he slashed to his right and buried a jumper over the head of 6-foot-8 Jalen Rose as the shot clock wound down. The Coney Island Kid finished 11-of-20 from the field. He was as aggressive as he’s been in slicing through the lane, and yet he consistently found open looks for teammates, as well.

On the other end of the floor, credit Wilkens, who has managed to convince a defensively lax team to clamp down on opponents.

In four of the previous five games before Wilkens came aboard, the Knicks surrendered at least 107 points. Since Wilkens arrived, they’ve held opponents to 263 points over three contests.

“We’re still not where I want us to be, but we’ve won three games,” Wilkens said. “We’re having some mental breakthroughs, which I love. We’re getting tougher. Defensively, we’re believing. That’s the satisfaction.”

WHERE THERE’S A WILKENS

With yesterday’s win over the Raptors, Lenny Wilkens (left) has Knicks in eighth and final playoff spot in Eastern Conference. Here’s a look at how team has fared since Don Chaney was fired along with conference playoff picture before last night’s games: